Lloyd academy gets LTA cash

The Lawn Tennis Association has turned to the man who discovered Tim Henman in the hope of finding new players to follow in his footsteps and break British tennis's perpetual cycle of failure.

The chief executive Roger Draper is expected to announce today that the LTA will increase to £500,000 over the next three years the amount of funding it gives to David Lloyd's academy. Lloyd is the former British Davis Cup captain who discovered and nurtured a teenage Henman as part of a squad funded by entrepreneur Jim Slater. Lloyd's academy already boasts Britain's best male players at under-14 and under-12 levels and is understood to have been receiving £70,000 a year from the LTA.

Ironically, Lloyd lobbied strongly for Draper's job at the LTA after his predecessor, John Crowther, left the organisation in April. He has been a noisy and trenchant critic over the years before being bought back into the fold.

"Flexibility of approach is key and I believe David Lloyd has much to offer British tennis," said Draper.

Naomi Cavaday, Britain's last remaining player in the junior Wimbledon draw, was beaten 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals yesterday by Poland's Urszula Radwanska. Cavaday, 17, needed a wild card to get into the Wimbledon juniors but is widely regarded as the country's most talented young female player.